Hingham Eagle Scout candidate researches street names

Thursday

Sep 6, 2012 at 12:01 AMSep 6, 2012 at 6:10 AM

The book will, he hopes, earn him the status of Eagle Scout. “Eagle Scout requirements are for you to have a large project to benefit a nonprofit or community service organization,” Murphy said. “You have to plan, fund, fund raise, and implement it.” Once the book is printed, it will go to the Hingham Historical Society for sale in their gift shop. Murphy anticipates that they will also donate copies to the fifth grades in Hingham Public Schools.

Murphy expects that the book will run 80 to 100 pages when it comes back from the graphic designer. Each two- or three-page chapter begins with a street sign, and then relates interesting facts about the people and time period behind the name on it.

Glenda Garland

For most of us, street signs tell us where we are. For Ben Murphy, though, street signs tell us a lot more than that — they tell us where we’ve been. The Hingham High School senior has been researching town history through the names found on street signs. He has taken all his research and written a book targeted to teaching it to fifth graders.

The book will, he hopes, earn him the status of Eagle Scout. “Eagle Scout requirements are for you to have a large project to benefit a nonprofit or community service organization,” Murphy said. “You have to plan, fund, fund raise, and implement it.” Once the book is printed, it will go to the Hingham Historical Society for sale in their gift shop. Murphy anticipates that they will also donate copies to the fifth grades in Hingham Public Schools.

Murphy expects that the book will run 80 to 100 pages when it comes back from the graphic designer. Each two- or three-page chapter begins with a street sign, and then relates interesting facts about the people and time period behind the name on it.

Murphy has been surprised and impressed by some of the historical figures he’s met along the way. “You know Dwiggins Path? Well, William Dwiggins lived in the early nineteenth century. He was a typesetter and calligraphist. He coined the term graphic design. He drew the redesign of the town seal. As he got older, he got into marionettes, and gave free shows to kids from his studio. That was pretty nice of him.”

“Because Hingham is the second oldest town in Plymouth County after Plymouth itself,” Murphy said, “it produced a lot of significant figures. We had two Supreme Court judges, General Benjamin Lincoln, and two Massachusetts governors. It was really interesting to learn that the town has such a deep history.”

Murphy targeted fifth graders as the book’s audience because fifth graders study Colonial history. He worked with Mary Eastwood, Principal of South Elementary School, to make sure the book was age appropriate. Eastwood was a fifth grade teacher. Murphy also drew on Suzanne Buchanan, Executive Director of the Hingham Historical Society.

“I pointed him to primary sources in our collection, mostly pictures,” Buchanan said, “but we didn’t do any of the research. That’s all his.”

Murphy did almost all of the research at the Hingham Public Library. Since part of earning Eagle Scout status involves showing leadership, he enlisted a few other scouts to do some driving around town taking pictures. He could also ask them to look up specific pieces of information. But the plan was his.

“I first submitted this idea to the Boy Scout council six months ago,” Murphy said, adding that he couldn’t work on it very much during the end of last school year. “I spent the summer kicking it into high gear. I was working on it six days a week, mostly in the Hingham Public Library reference area.”

He said it took him a lot of time to drive around Hingham finding the right places and signs to focus on, to do the research, then edit and revise. “Once the books is printed,” Murphy said, “I can take it to the council. My goal is to achieve Eagle by November.”

Buchanan sees Murphy’s book project as filling a real need. “It’s a wonderful thing for us. Most of what we sell in our gift shop is books on Hingham history, but they’re mostly geared to adults, so we’re thrilled to expand our offerings to the younger kids. We’re very excited about getting kids to connect with Hingham streetscapes while their moms are driving them to soccer, or they’re just walking about.”

Murphy said that most Eagle Scout projects involve construction, like clearing trails or building. While he enjoys all the normal activities usually associated with scouting, such as camping and trekking in the woods, he found himself drawn to the history. His enjoyment of training younger scouts likely contributed to the form of his project, too.

“My folks signed me up for scouting,” he said, “probably when I was about five years old, so I didn’t really have a choice about that. But sticking with scouting when everyone else is dropping out is pretty rewarding.”

Murphy is holding a preorder sale direct to the public for $10 a copy, $2.95 off the price the Hingham Historical Society will price the book in their gift shop. Anyone interested can email him at hinghamhistory@comcast.net or drop by Hingham Public Library on September 8th and 9th, or go to Old Derby on September 22nd. Murphy will have a table at these places to take preorders and answer questions about his project. All proceeds still benefit the Hingham Historical Society.